The Red Bulls squandered an early lead in settling for a 1-1 tie today at Chicago. Midfielder Joel Lindpere scored in the 40th minute, only to see keeper Bouna Coundoul let Marco Pappa’s shot go through him for a 58th-minute equalizer.

It was the Martin Luther King High School grad’s first start since May 15 against Chivas USA, and for the most part the Senegalese National Teamer played well. The Red Bulls also closed down their leaky set piece defending; but they came away with just a point, finishing a grueling eight-day, three-game road swing in second place in the Eastern Conference at 5-3-9 for 24 points.

Lindpere seemed particularly vexed afterwards, saying “I play; I want to smile on the field. It’s not fun anymore. I am going to look at myself, I hope my teammates look at themselves too so we play more as a team.”

Here is what they had to say afterwards, as they prepare for Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup opener and next weekend’s game at San Jose:

Coach Hans Backe

On the match:

“Tough game. It’s what was expected on a nine-day road trip. Fatigued players, especially during the last 15 minutes. Otherwise, I would say the first half was decent, couldn’t really get any possession in the second half. Too many unforced errors. Then you lose a little bit of your rhythm in the attacking game when you have that many unforced errors. But overall, playing away at the last game and with the traveling it’s okay to pick up one point.”

On Lindpere’s goal and the team’s play in the first half:

“I think overall in the first half we had better rhythm, better possession, played more patient. It’s very warm outside. It looked like when we scored the first goal in the first half that this was a game we could control and we could dictate even in the second half but too many unforced errors. Chicago did well in the pressing game in the second half.”

On set piece defending:

“I thought that was good. It was 100%. There were a lot of free kicks and corner kicks to defend and we were 100% in sync with those.”

On the Red Bulls upcoming US Open Cup game and MLS game versus San Jose:

“On Tuesday for the Open Cup game we will play with as many players who haven’t been playing for some weeks as we can. It will be mostly reserve players playing that game.”

New York Red Bulls Goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul

On the match:

”It would have been a lot better if we had gotten the “w”. Tough game like that, at one o’clock with the heat and we’ve been on the road for almost eight or nine days, it’s tough you know. In a way, it’s okay because I’m trying to get back my rhythm. Hopefully for the next game I might be a little more sharp.”

On the players being fatigued:

“Of course. Sometimes the mind tells you to do something, but the body and the legs will not. You can see guys trying to cool themselves down. It’s tough because in the second half Chicago put a lot of pressure on us and they had home-field advantage. We tried to get out of here at least with a point.”

On Pappa’s goal:

“Any other day if there was no bounce I would get catch it easily but when you are not expecting it, it happens. Once and a while the ball doesn’t bounce the way you anticipate it.”

On moving on to San Jose:

“We have a positive point here, so it’s nice to carry it on to the next game. It would have been a lot worse had we lost here and gone on to San Jose, on the other side of the country. It’s going to be tough game because San Jose just has come from a tie and they will want the win. We will go back home and regenerate and get ourselves together. We’re going to have Rafa [Marquez] and Agudelo and Tim Ream and when we have the whole team complete then you’ll see a different Red Bull team again.”

New York Red Bulls Defender Carlos Mendes

On the game:

“It was a tough game for us, obviously. Chicago is a good team. They came out and battled. Three games in a week is always tough, but we were unhappy with the way we played. In the second half I think we just defended, we didn’t keep the ball and it made it tougher for us. So we will take the point obviously. It’s a long week but we have to start getting three points.”

On the warm weather’s impact on the match:

“I thought if we had kept the ball a little more it really doesn’t become a factor so I think if we had played a little better, a little more composed we’d be more relaxed. Of course it’s always tough with three games in week but now we are looking forward to going home and taking a couple days to relax.”

On set piece defending:

“It’s been a big problem but we’ve focused on it and we have to stop it now. I thought we did better with that today. We battled hard and deserved a point. We have to start coming out with three points.”

New York Red Bulls Joel Lindpere

On being pleased with preserving a point in Chicago:

“No, not at all. We didn’t win. Not too much to say. The next game is away and we have one week to analyze all the teams. We played well for 45 minutes but it’s not enough. Everyone on our team needs to think about what we should do and how we should play better. So now we go home and play a US Open Cup game and guys who haven’t played so much will be able to show themselves there. I think everyone understands now that we cannot go on like this. We score one, but we give goals back. They get very stupid, easy goals against us, and then we fight to get the goals back. Then we do something stupid again. So, for me, game day should be like a party, I want to have fun. I play; I want to smile on the field. It’s not fun anymore. I am going to look at myself, I hope my teammates look at themselves too so we play more as a team. We just need to do a better job. That’s basically it.”

On the difference between the first and the second half:

“Everyone says that the first half, we go out and we play and they might be a little scared. But when they start to push us a little bit, we panic. We lose our head. We need to stay calm and play like we used to and do the same job.”